Version 3 Exam Now Available at Prometric
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It is now possible to take the ITIL Foundation Exam at Prometric /
Vue Pearson. For those readers who are unaware, these organizations
offer thousands of remote testing locations across the world (in
fact, more than 30,000).

In a nutshell, once the requisite knowledge for the exam itself has
been obtained, the exam can be booked online, and physically taken at
a local venue.

This creates many opportunities for different learning models,
enabling study to be undertaken at the convenience of the student. It
also enables more cost effective approaches to be adopted.

To explain how to book the exam, Certification. Info have created two
dedicated help pages:
http ://itsm.certification. info/prometric. html ... for Prometric
bookings
http ://itsm.certification. info/vue. html ... for Pearson Vue bookings.

For those who wish to study for themselves, or perhaps simply prepare
themselves for attending a formal course, the full syllabus for the
exam is available on the mobile syllabus site:
http ://www.syllabus .mobi/itil/ foundation. htm

The launch of ITIL Version 3 brought with it dramatic changes to the
hierarchy of ITIL certifications. Each level of certification is now
designed to support the next level, to enable smooth progression and
transition.

The ITIL Foundation is still the entry level qualification and it is
mandatory to have passed this course, before progressing further.

After the Foundation course the student has a choice of 9 different
programs to choose from in order to be able to progress to the final
level of courses.

The level of courses after the Foundation is split into two
categories; Service Lifecycle and Service Capability. The five
Service Lifecycle courses are organized on the basis of one course
per volume of ITIL v3. The four Service Capability courses are a
mixture of closely coupled areas;

At this Lifecycle and Capability level a person needs to earn 15
credit points in order to be able to take the Managing Across the
Lifecycle program (which is the final course in the series).

The Service Lifecycle courses are each worth 3 credit points and each
Service Capability course is worth 4 credit points. When combined
with 2 credits from the Foundation course and 5 credits from the
Managing Across the Lifecycle a student earns 22 credits and then
automatically qualifies for the 'ITIL Expert' status.

The ITIL Books
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When preparing for the exam via a formal or self study course, owning
the books is not a pre-requisite. However, they can certainly be
useful for reference, and of course, in addition to ongoing use
within an organization.

The ITIL volumes themselves are available as PDFs or as hardcopy.
They can be purchased via the following channels:

HARDCOPY
The volumes are shipped worldwide directly from the publishers (TSO)
warehouses. They can be purchased on paper via:
http ://www.itil. org.uk/all. htm

The normal health warnings apply: these are online purchases. Those
cultures that are less familiar with e-commerce will therefore be
under represented. Equally, the materials are in English language,
with similar implications.

As this edition of the ITIL Newsletter is focused upon the foundation
exam, we re-produce here an earlier review of the self-study course.
This is designed to prepare for the official examination, and in view
of its low cost, may well be the most cost effective approach. Note
that it is an officially accredited course (EXIN).

OUR COURSE REVIEW
Initial impressions are good. The internet transaction is clean and
simple, and the download link is provided immediately. The download
itself weighed in at 15Mb, which is easily manageable even on a dial
up connection.

Installation:
The files and materials were provided in a simple zip file. They
extracted without any problems, placing the course contents in a
folder of our choice.

Contents:
It is obvious from the outset that there is a substantial volume of
content. A quick cross reference with their website (not that we are
cynical!) indicated that everything was indeed supplied as promised.

One nice touch was that the learning path was laid out in a clear
manner, starting with self-study and ending with the mock exams. This
is important for anyone who is not familiar with taking the learning
initiative for themselves.

All the contents were well put together. The language is clear, and
concise, and no effort has been spared in terms of presentation, with
plenty of graphical illustrations around to make the point. On
review, we liked the option of learning some of the content via a
PowerPoint presentation. This also opens the opportunity for group
study.

The revision sheets were functional, and the sample questions and
mock exams were comprehensive. We also liked the idea of offering a
mock exam in Excel, as this provided a running score, which made the
exercise more compelling.

Overall:
Despite our familiarity with the topic before we started the course,
we still enjoyed it. This is a real credit to the authors. For anyone
looking to study for the v3 exam therefore, this should prove to be
an excellent approach. It passed our test and we recommend it.

The ITIL Open Guide maintain a register of those who have passed the
various ITIL certificates. This is an entirely voluntary arrangement,
with those who hold the certifications able to enter their own
details.

ITIL Newsletter Discussion
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The ITIL and ISO 20000 Support Group have recently launched a forum
specifically dedicated to this newsletter:
http ://www.15000. net/modules. php?name= Forums

Here, you can discuss all the topics raised, share information, and
offer feedback and suggestions to our editorial team.

We thank them for their support.

ITIL Humor: True Stories
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We couldn't resist this one:

Service Desk: Double click on "My Computer"
User: I can't see your computer.
Service Desk: No, double click on "My Computer" on your PC.
User: Pardon?
Service Desk: There is an icon on your PC with the label "My
Computer". Double click on it.
User: What's your computer doing on mine?

Coming In The Future Editions...
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Scheduled inclusions for the next issues include:
- Help Desk Disasters!
- ITIL, The Management View
- Alternative Certifications
- The Politics of ITIL
- The Two Minute Interview
- ITSM Q&A
- Common Misconceptions
- And much more...

Equally, have you got something you wish to say on the subject of
ITIL, perhaps a fresh insight or some information which might benefit
other subscribers? If so, this is an open publication, so please do
submit your contribution to us.

Finally
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